With natural disasters across North America in the news lately, it’s understandable that you might be thinking about ways to prepare your family for a disaster in your area. A great place to start turns out to be Costco, which sells a surprising variety of dehydrated food kits that can keep four people fed for a year, or 192 people for a week. [More]
warehouse clubs
Costco Creates A Nightmare Before Christmas In This Seasonal Display
By 9.12.17
It’s the first half of September, which means that it’s time to celebrate our favorite holiday. No, not Halloween or Thanksgiving: The best holiday of all is Christmas/Halloween Mashup, as the classic animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas taught us all. The demands of seasonal displays mean that Nightmares Before Christmas also appear in the real world. Sometimes it’s even done well. [More]
Costco Is Thriving Because People Still Don’t Buy Their Toilet Paper Or Steak On Amazon
By 5.25.17
As retailer after retailer closes up shop, and big box stores like Target and Walmart put increased focus on e-commerce, Costco continues to not only stay open, but to grow, despite having virtually no online retail presence. Why? Because people aren’t yet turning to Amazon to fill up their kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. [More]
Some Costco Shoppers Can Now Get Groceries Delivered
By 3.22.17
To some Costco customers, part of the experience of being a member of the warehouse club is going to the store, filling your huge cart up with everything from slabs of steak to blue jeans (and maybe nibbling on some free samples). But surely some shoppers just want the Costco products without having to actually go to Costco. [More]
Costco Raising Membership Fees Starting In June
By 3.3.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
As predicted earlier this year, it was about time for Costco to do it’s once-every-five-years-or-so price increase on membership fees, and we were right. The warehouse club has confirmed a 10% cost increase for most of its members. [More]
The Price Of Your Costco Membership May Be Going Up By 10% This Year
By 1.5.17
Costco-watching industry analysts say that members of the popular warehouse store should prepare themselves for a possible hike of as much as 10% to the cost of their annual membership at some point in the coming year. [More]
This Woman Is On A Mission To Stop At Costco Stores In Every U.S. State That Has Them
By 11.15.16
Do you have a Costco store in your state? It may soon get a visit from a dedicated Costco devotee who’s on a solo road trip around the country right now, in an effort to check out a Costco store in every state that has one. [More]
Households Don’t Have Warehouse Club Memberships, They Do Have Amazon Prime
By 9.27.16
It used to be that a warehouse club membership was a necessity for suburban families: depending on where they lived, they might belong to BJ’s, Costco, or Sam’s Club, or some combination of the three. Yet while warehouse club membership has stayed pretty steady over the last few years, membership in Amazon Prime has increased instead. [More]
New Sam’s Club Stores Let Customers Scan Purchases With Phone, Avoid Cashiers
By 7.15.16
New Sam’s Club stores have a useful feature for people who are in a hurry, or who dislike human interaction. Instead of taking your cart to a cashier at the end of your shopping trip, you can scan items with your mobile phone before putting them in your cart, then check out on your phone as well. [More]
Sam’s Club Takes Advantage Of Costco Credit Card Problems, Invites Members To Visit
By 6.28.16
Hey, are you a Costco member? Are you annoyed with their switch to only accepting Visa cards, and the problematic transition to the Costco Anywhere Visa? Competitor Sam’s Club has a solution for you: come check out their warehouse club, where all major credit cards are welcome. Even if that’s a pretty recent development. Sam’s is welcoming Costco card holders to enter the store and browse (but not to shop without buying their own membership) through July 4. [More]
Costco Expected To Raise Membership Fees By 10% Sometime In The Next Year
By 4.22.16
The cost of a yearly Costco membership could be going up in the near future: according to analysts at UBS, the retailer is probably going to raise prices by 10% by late this year or early 2017. [More]
BJ’s Introduces Pick Up And Pay Service For People Who Dislike Walking Around Warehouse Clubs
By 4.20.16
Do you like shopping at a warehouse club, but don’t like the experience of actually walking around inside a warehouse club? BJ’s Wholesale Club is following the not-especially-hot trend of in-store pickup, allowing members to pick up online orders at their local club. They have to go fetch any perishable grocery items themselves, though. [More]
Costco Vs. Sam’s Club: Which Warehouse Club Should You Choose?
By 4.18.16
When it comes time to consider joining a national warehouse club, there are basically two choices facing consumers: Costco or Sam’s Club. Both offer to deliver big savings on not only groceries, but on everything from electronics and clothing to cars and home mortgages. So which one should the discerning shopper choose? [More]
Maybe Warehouse Clubs Have Influenced Our Shopping Even More Than E-Commerce
By 9.3.15
Americans’ shopping habits have changed somewhat over the last few decades, but that’s not necessarily because of e-commerce. Two economists at the University of Chicago argue that the rise of warehouse clubs is what has really changed Americans’ shopping habits and the retailscape. [More]
Jet.com Opens To The Public Today, Discounts More If You Buy More Stuff And Waive Returns
By 7.21.15
It’s easy to compare Jet, an e-commerce site that held its virtual grand opening today, to Amazon. The startup wants to be compared to and compete with Amazon: its founder’s last venture, Quidsi, sold household goods through the sites diapers.com, soap.com, and wag.com, and ended up acquired by Amazon. [More]
BJ’s Is Just Daring You To Move This Question Mark
By 9.12.14
According to the warehouse club’s handbook for new employees, BJ’s is named for Beverly Jean Weich, the daughter of the company’s first president. That was in 1984, so it’s not like nobody knew that the name had a possible secondary meaning other than “a person with the initials B.J.” Right? Josh really questions the wisdom of the company’s new slogan. [More]
Amazon Going After Costco, Sam’s Club With ‘Pantry’ Bulk-Buying Service
By 12.13.13
For years, Amazon has been selling certain household goods, like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and cereal, that are the bread-and-butter for warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club, but the online retailer has had trouble competing because of the shipping costs. That may change next year with the reported launch of something called Pantry. [More]
Sam’s Club Takes Back Ancient Desk Chair, Delights Customer
By 6.27.13
People come in different shapes and sizes, and companies make products to fit us. Well, the products are supposed to. Reader Chris got a wonderful desk chair designed for people who are, as he puts it, “big and tall” for Christmas. Christmas 2011. When it broke, he was stuck: surely the warranty was up and the retailer wouldn’t take it back. Right? [More]
